THURSDAY XMAS PARTY EDITION: I hope Joe gets a
good turnout today for the annual Christmas Party today, the weather
is decent for traveling- have fun today! Pictures please, I don't
think I can get away from commitments I have here....Screw Sports
Illustrated....
French ham radio license
fee...this should go over well with the riots going on...
REF reports the Finance committee of the Senate has tabled an
amendment to the French Finance Act 2019 concerning the annual
amateur radio license fee
The annual license fee in France is currently 45.73 euros and
yields about 600,000 euros.
The amendment says that collecting the license fee costs 409.6%
of the amount recovered and proposes "removing this tax".
REF notes "amendment has yet to pass to the Assembly and perhaps
to the Joint Committee, it seems that there has been an echo of
our proposal at (see
this link) "
REF in Google English
https://tinyurl.com/FranceREF
WEDNESDAY EDITION: Let's not forget the party
this week at HRO in Salem, NH this Thursday. We like to get there at
about 11am and socialize in the HRO showroom and check out the radio
gear and accessories. We expect a good crowd and the lunch is next
door at the Chinese Restaurant and the food has been pretty good in
the past. All are welcome.....we are a friendly bunch!...If you are
up early in the AM, tune in to 3940 for the Inter-Continental Net.
Nice bunch of hams, over 100 checked in this morning, from all over
the country with weather reports. I heard stations from Florida to
NH, and many mid-western stations.....
How to Choose a Two-Way Radio
Popular Mechanics magazine article says
Walkie-talkies, CB radios, and Ham radios are a fun and useful way
to communicate with your group of friends and family
Two-way radios are usually either citizens-band, a.k.a. CBs, GMRS,
or ham radios. They all operate on different frequencies, and have
varying wattage outputs and ranges. Our handy guide explains the
differences.
Read the Popular Mechanics article at
https://www.popularmechanics.com/adventure/a22818698/two-way-radio-ham-cb-gmrs/
Electromagnetics, the W8JK Antenna, and the “Wow!” Signal
Or, “My friend, the Ohio State Professor, Dr John Kraus, W8JK”
Bob Houf-K7ZB
Antenna enthusiasts will recognize the call sign W8JK as the
inventor of the classic array known as the W8JK flat-top beam. The
antenna has unique characteristics that make it popular today and
the interested ham can search the internet to find an almost
overwhelming number of references for this design.
If you’re truly an old timer, you would know it as the ‘8JK
flat-top beam antenna, originally described in the March and June
(1937) issues of Radio Magazine and further discussed by Kraus in
his QST article in the June, 1982 issue.
After spending 6 years in the Submarine Service of the US Navy I
returned to school in pursuit of my Electrical Engineering degree at
The Ohio State University. I had been an amateur radio operator as a
13-year-old teenager in 1963 and now it was the mid-1970’s and I was
finally achieving my goal of obtaining my BSEE.
The first years went by at Ohio State and I began taking the core
EE courses which included two semesters of Electromagnetics –
starting with static charges, progressing through Maxwell’s
Equations and on to antenna theory.
I was privileged to have as my instructor Dr John Kraus, W8JK, a
distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and Director of
the OSU Radio Observatory known as “Big Ear”. Dr Kraus had authored
several text books on Electromagnetics and Antennas and his books
were translated (sometimes illegally, as was done in the Soviet
Union) in languages for use all over the world.
I had Dr Kraus for Electromagnetics for both courses and found
him to be a very personable, if world-renowned expert in the subject
matter.
His exams were always the most thoughtful and insightful of all
the EE courses I took at Ohio State – he tested to see if you
understood the core concepts he taught – each was an open book exam
and if you did not understand the principles of the subject you
stood little chance of doing well.
Now I had heard of the ‘8JK beam antenna some years earlier and
one day in the second semester of Electromagnetics it finally dawned
on me that, indeed, my professor must be the very same W8JK who
invented the antenna.
So, I came up to Dr Kraus after one lecture on antennas and told
him I was a ham and asked if he was the real W8JK – and the inventor
of the array.
He was delighted I recognized his work – he had not made it known
to our class that he was a ham – and said, yes, he was one and the
same.
With that encouragement I went back to our little one room
apartment in married student housing and began to really study his
textbook analysis of the W8JK array.
I was rewarded for my effort when I discovered on the Final Exam
for the course that Spring, that for one of the questions Dr Kraus
had us analyze his W8JK antenna design!
A nice relationship was developed during that Junior year of
school with Dr Kraus and when I discovered that he was the Director
of the Ohio State Radio Observatory I went up to the top floor of
the Caldwell Lab Engineering Building and spoke with Bob Dixon,
W8ERD, the Assistant Director, about the possibility of becoming
involved with the Observatory.
A very good friend of mine and fellow EE student, Mike Mraz, N6MZ
(of DXpedition fame) was also interested in working in some capacity
at the Radio Observatory so we both were encouraged to speak to Dr
Kraus and he created a work-study project for us in our Senior year
of school, working at the Radio Observatory just north of Columbus
in Delaware, Ohio.
Mike took the lead with my assistance and we designed and
developed a 50-channel active filter for the receiver for use in the
sky scan of the heavenly sphere that was underway at the Radio
Observatory.
Our filter was put into service in Spring of 1977 and was part of
the receiver system that copied the famous “Wow! Signal” which has
baffled the scientific community for decades. It was a narrow-band
emission from a certain region of space that may have been from an
intelligent source.
Whether that is true or not has been the subject of intense
debate since August of 1977 when it was received. All one has to do
is search the internet for the “Wow! Signal” and you can find
articles, videos, analyses and debate which have raged nonstop for
over 40 years. There have even been T-shirts made with the famous
6EQUJ5 signal strength report in the original computer printout for
the Wow! signal…
During our Senior year of school, Dr Kraus invited Mike and I and
our significant others to his home for dinner and a discussion of
his research. He was a gracious host along with his lovely wife
Alice and we thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
As members of the Electrical Engineering Honorary, Eta Kappa Nu,
Dr Kraus hosted a picnic for us at his estate north of Columbus.
The small pond on his property was full of largemouth bass and I
wangled permission from Dr Kraus to come out and fish for them when
I had spare time.
On one of my visits to his home he showed me his radio shack and
introduced me to his technique for determining if an HF band was
open to a certain part of the world.
He would point his W8JK beam in the desired direction and send a
single ‘dit’ and pause to listen – if he heard a delayed dit come
back he knew the band was open for that frequency and azimuth since
the ‘8JK beam has a bi-directional radiation pattern.
As a result of that visit and conversation I received my only QSL
card from W8JK and for the frequency of the contact he paused,
looked up at the ceiling and said, “Well, this was a
person-to-person QSO so I guess the frequency must be in the visible
light spectrum!” and he wrote 680nm for the wavelength of our QSO.
As the years passed I was able to occasionally keep up with Dr
Kraus by letter and made one final visit to see him after his
retirement.
He was as busy and productive in his retirement years as he was
when he taught and did research at Ohio State.
I recall seeing him leaving the campus one day after the last
class in the afternoon and he looked at me and said, “Now the second
day begins!”.
73 and RIP, Dr Kraus.
Apollo 8 50th Anniversary Special Event
Set for December 21 – 27
Several NASA Amateur Radio clubs will mark the 50th anniversary
of Apollo 8 on December 21 – 27, concluding the year-long
NASA on
the Air activity, which celebrates NASA’s 60th
anniversary. The agency was created in 1958 through an act
signed by President Dwight Eisenhower.
Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968, and splashed down
6 days later on December 27. It was the first manned spacecraft
to leave low-Earth orbit, orbit the moon, and return safely.
Special event operation will be on various bands and modes,
and participating stations will self-spot on the DX cluster as
well as via Facebook and Twitter.
Contact
Rob Suggs, KB5EZ, at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center for
more information.
Working Amateur Radio
Satellites....space junk...
Stephen 2E0SSM recently did a talk at the
Lincoln Shortwave Club about working amateur satellites and he
has now published an article on his website
This is a basic introduction explaining the things Stephen had
to learn when he first started.
A guide to working amateur satellites is now available at
http://mcbainsite.co.uk/working-amateur-radio-satellites/
Artist made a radio out of a kitchen
sink
The IEEE Spectrum magazine reports on Amanda Dawn
Christie’s work which commemorates the fading glory of
shortwave radio
Some artists work in oils, say, or marble. Amanda Dawn Christie
works in radio. Not radio in the sense of performing on air. But
radio in the sense of the giant cultural and technological
phenomenon that is broadcasting, and specifically shortwave
broadcasting.
For decades, shortwave was the only way to reach a global
audience in real time. Broadcasters such as the BBC World
Service and Voice of America used it to project “soft power.”
But as the Internet grew, interest in shortwave diminished.
Christie’s art draws from shortwave’s history, representing it
in sculpture, performance, photography, and film. Her focus is
the life of the Radio Canada International (RCI) transmitter
complex, located in Sackville, New Brunswick, near Christie’s
hometown. The transmitter was in operation from the 1940s until
2012.
“Those towers were always just a part of the landscape that I
grew up around,” says Christie. It took a radio-building
workshop to spark her interest: “I built a radio out of a
toilet-paper tube.... I thought I did a great job because I
picked up Italian radio. It turned out I did not—I was just
really close to this international shortwave site.”
Read the full story and watch video Requium for Radio : Full
Quiet Flutter at
https://spectrum.ieee.org/geek-life/profiles/this-artist-made-a-radio-out-of-a-kitchen-sink
TUESDAY EDITION: I
checked in to the "Friendly Bunch on 3919 Monday early evening and I
have to admit, they are a friendly bunch of hams. A refreshing touch
in ham radio. If you check in and behave yourself over a period of
time you will be issued an official membership number. Give them a
listen! Bobby-KB4ABJ is doing a good job quarterbacking the
group, they have a Facebook page as well......This guy
was pissed...Info on
noise that was driving us nuts
on 75 at night....FYI for new readers of this page, do not click on
the images in the top banner section of the page, I warned
you!....Big boys toys, great
xmas ideas......Maintaining
interest with kids about ham
radio...
Suspicious package’ at post office was ham
radio equipment
The Gainesville Sun reports the U.S. Post Office on Southwest
34th Street was briefly evacuated after the discovery of a
suspicious package
The newspaper says:
A suspicious package found Thursday at U.S. Post Office on Southwest
34th Street was deemed non-threatening by law enforcement.
An email sent by Gainesville Police Department spokesman Capt. Jorge
Campos said several officers responded to a call from the post
office about a large package with pipes and wire coming from it.
Campos wrote that the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office bomb squad was
called out and the building was evacuated.
It was eventually determined to be ham radio parts protruding
through the box.
Employees were able to return to work.
Source
https://www.gainesville.com/news/20181207/suspicious-package-at-post-office-was-ham-radio-equipment
Santa Net 2018 Looking for net
operators.
EST 23 Dec. 24 Dec.
2PM AA4EE AA4EE
3PM K0BOT K0BOT
4PM
5PM
6PM
7PM
8PM
9PM
FREQUENCIES-14.325- OR- FIRST CLEAR FREQUENCY
Rules are simple:
1. Time slots are one hour. I put myself down 2x.
2. Choose a time slot for yourself.
3. Whoever starts net at 14.325 or look for a clear frequency
4. Ignore deliberate interference
5. All licensed hams welcome to participate
6. For newcomers, Santa visits your station, and anyone who checks
in,
can speak to Santa. Of course, when Santa speaks to young children,
he
asks them what they want for Christmas.
7. Santa's helpers (relay stations) are always helpful and
appreciated.
8. YL and XYL Operators are more than welcome! When Santa is busy in
the
workshop, Mrs. Claus does an outstanding job!
9. Use discretion- never promise a child he or she gets what they
want;
sometimes a Shetland pony is not in the cards!
10. Any questions: contact me at aa4ee@mac.com-or 954-741-6200
11.if you wish me to speak to you, call 954-741-6200
12. As slots are filled in, I will send this to all participants.
WSJT-X 2.0 full release now
available
The WSJT-X 2.0 software suite has been released, and developer
Joe Taylor, K1JT, is urging FT8 and MSK144 users to
upgrade to what will become the new standard
The ARRL says:
The FT8 and MSK144 protocols have been enhanced in a way that is not
backward compatible with older versions of the program. That
includes any version 1.9 releases.
"The new protocols become the worldwide standards starting on
December 10, 2018, and all users should upgrade to WSJT-X 2.0 by
January 1, 2019," Taylor said on the WSJT-X home page. "After that
date, only the new FT8 and MSK144 should be used on the air."
Quick Start Guide for WSJT
https://physics.princeton.edu/pulsar/k1jt/Quick_Start_WSJT-X_2.0.pdf
FT8 Operating Guide by ZL2IFB
http://www.g4ifb.com/FT8_Hinson_tips_for_HF_DXers.pdf
Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 Receiver Suffers Apparent
Failure...more space junk
The receiver on the newly launched Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 CubeSat
seems to have suffered a receiver failure that could render the
satellite unusable, AMSAT said over the weekend. Efforts
continue by AMSAT Engineering to establish the cause of the
problem and determine if a fix is possible. AMSAT Vice
President-Engineering Jerry Buxton, N0JY, reported over the
weekend that the issue cropped up during efforts to commission
Fox-1Cliff/AO-95. “After a few days of tests, analysis, and
discussion, it appears that Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 will not be
commissioned as our fourth Fox-1 Amateur Radio satellite,”
Buxton said. Commissioning began on December 4, right after the
CubeSat’s successful launch a day earlier.
“AMSAT Engineering will continue to evaluate and test
Fox-1Cliff/AO-95 for solutions to the anomaly, and your
continued help in providing telemetry is appreciated so that we
can have data throughout her daily orbits, rather than limited
data over our US stations,” Buxton said. “The data, analysis,
and testing could lead to a positive solution, but at the very
least will be important to AMSAT's satellite programs in
providing information that would help us and others avoid
similar situations with future missions.”
In a post to AMSAT-BB, Buxton mentioned one suggestion of
employing a high-power station to see if AO-95 could hear its
signal, but he added that AMSAT Engineering would not be
offering a blow-by-blow narrative of its efforts to restore the
satellite to operating condition, “unless it is something of
merit or actionable.”
Buxton noted that AMSAT’s resources are limited, and all
involved are volunteers. “Most — if not all — of our remaining
Fox-1 engineers are also involved in the GOLF-TEE project, so I
have asked them to give that first priority with their available
volunteer time in order to keep the schedule,” Buxton said.
“AO-95 is in orbit now, and we can vary the amount of attention
on her as resources allow in order to achieve both goals. If the
results of our investigation point to a possibility of recovery,
be it partial, full, or some workaround method, we would all
like to see her working as much as the rest of you, and that is
a driver for this investigation.”
Buxton said he anticipates that AMSAT Engineering will
continue to seek the cause of the apparent receiver failure,
“until we have results or reach a dead end, because of the
inability to take the lid off and look inside AO-95.”
“I will certainly be keeping everyone posted when we have
something new to report,” Buxton said.
ARRL Bill Leonard Audio Reporting
Award Presented in New York City
The 2017 ARRL Bill Leonard W2SKE Professional Media Award
for Audio Reporting was presented in New York on December 6
to the producers and staff of the radio program “The
Takeaway.” The program, a joint production of Public Radio
International (PRI), WGBH, and WNYC, aired a number of
stories about Amateur Radio’s role in supporting disaster
relief agencies in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U,
presented the Leonard Award for Audio Reporting to the
program's executive producer, Arwa Gunja, and the show's
staff. “The Takeaway” had interviewed Corey about how radio
amateurs were supporting the American Red Cross’s efforts to
convey “safety and wellness” messages from the island
commonwealth to relatives on the US mainland.
Corey and ARRL CEO Howard Michel, WB2ITX, also toured the
WNYC studios, where the program is produced. MONDAY EDITION:.My
readers in the Carolina's and Virginia got a taste of what we get in
the winter- snow, wind, and power outages and the local DPW trying
to deal with snow on the roads....nice sunset, twenty degrees and
calm here today....Ok, what the hell is this broadband noise
on 75 meters starting when the band goes long, starting few
days ago. It is horrible and everyone is talking about it. Is it
foreign government jamming, some lunatic ham broadband jamming? I am
going to give the ARRL and Boston FCC office a jingle and see if
they are aware, they must be....sounds
of RFI....Marijuana becoming legal is interesting, big companies
wouldn't touch it. However now that they see the money, its all
about money, Marlboro invested 1.8 billion in Canadian
Marijuana.....how close are we to
levitation boards....
The January Edition of Digital QST is Now
Available! Lots of fun Ad's and a few articles...
The January of Digital QST is now available for viewing
on your desktop or laptop.
Click here to view the issue. It is also
available for reading on your Apple, Android, or Kindle Fire
device. ● Build a slot-cube antenna for 2 meters.
● Learn how to operate FT8 in the upcoming ARRL RTTY Roundup
contest.
● Use a tiny monitor and a Raspberry Pi microcomputer to
display your QSLs.
● See how flying and Amateur Radio combine.
…and much more!
Enjoy Content You Won’t Find in the Print Edition…
● See a video review of the SteppIR UrbanBeam 40- to 6-meter
antenna by Pascal Villeneuve, VA2PV. NASA On The Air
Listen for amateur radio clubs at NASA facilities as they
participate
in the NASA On The Air activity to commemorate the
50th anniversary
of the Apollo 8 mission that spanned launch December 21, 1968, to
splashdown on December 27, 1968.
The 50th anniversary event will start on 0000 UTC December 21,
2018
through 2359 UTC December 27, 2018.
14.271 MHz and other bands depending on conditions with spotting
announcements on DX clusters, FaceBook, and twitter.
QSL and a certificate with information available on QRZ.com
This marks the concluding event of the year-long NASA On the Air
celebration of 60th anniversary of NASA.
See
https://nasaontheair.wordpress.com/
1940s Radio Times now online
The BBC Genome Project has released the next batch of pages from
the publication Radio Times, this time covering the
1940s
The BBC have issued a warning about the content of the Radio Times
saying "This historical record contains material which some might
find offensive"
Read the copies of the Radio Times at
https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/
issues#decade-1940
WEEKEND EDITION:
22 degrees this morning, bright, sunny and no wind, good day for
antenna work...This
episode features two new exciting
radios. There’s a sneak preview of the Yaesu FTdx 101 hybrid
transceiver and a comprehensive overview of the high-performance
Icom IC-R6800 general coverage receiver. Pete Sipple M0PSX visits
the 2018 RSGB Convention. We chat with Graham Shirville G3VZV with
an update on the latest news from AMSAT-UK including what to expect
when the geostationary satellite Es’hail-2 is in full operation. And
more down to earth, Bob Mccreadie G0FGX ventures into the
controversial world of Network Radio! Martin Lynch & Sons - see
http://www.hamradio.co.uk for more information on the Geochron
Digital 4k and the full range of INAC loop antennas. Martin Lynch
and Sons, the world's favourite ham store!
After 35 years of marriage, a husband
and wife came for counseling. When asked what the problem was, the
wife went into a tirade listing every problem they had ever had in
the years they had been married.
On and on and on: neglect, lack of intimacy, emptiness, loneliness,
feeling unloved and unlovable, an entire laundry list of unmet needs
she had endured.
Finally, after allowing this for a
sufficient length of time, the therapist got up, walked around the
desk and
after asking the wife to stand, he embraced and kissed her long and
passionately as her husband watched - with a raised eyebrow. The
woman shut up and quietly sat down as though in a daze.
The therapist turned to the
husband and said, "This is what your wife needs at least 3 times
a week. Can you do this?"
"Well, I can drop her off here on Mondays and Wednesdays, but on
Fridays, I fish."
2018 QST Antenna Design Competition
Winners Announced....
ARRL has announced the winners of the 2018 QST Antenna
Design Competition. “Dozens of entries were received, but only
three could win,” said QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY.
Requirements for the 2018 QST Antenna Design
Competition included an antenna for one or more bands between
2200 meters and 10 meters that could fit within a 30 × 50 foot
area and be no taller than 30 feet above ground at any point.
“In other words, we were seeking designs for LF, MF, or HF
antennas for limited-space applications,” Ford explained. “We
wanted to see innovative antennas that would allow amateurs to
get on the air without the need for towering supports and acres
of property. Our winners not only met this challenge, they
exceeded it.” The winners:
- First Prize ($600): “A High Power 160/80-Meter
Transmitting Magnetic Loop Antenna” by Steve Adler, VK5SFA.
- Second Prize ($250): “LF/MF Reversible EWE
Antennas for Small Lot, Weak Signal Applications” by Michael
Sapp, WA3TTS.
- Third Prize ($150): “The 3/8-Wavelength Vertical
for 20 Meters, a Hidden Gem” by Joe Reisert, W1JR.
Details of all three winning designs will appear in a future
issue of QST between the advertisments.
Honorable Mentions
Several entries earned Honorable Mention status. We will be
publishing these designs in QST later in the year as
well. Honorable Mention recipients were:
- “A Magnetic Loop for 80, 40, and 20 Meters” by John
Chappell, W3HX
- “Superior Performance from a Unique HF Vertical Loop” by
John Portune, W6NBC
- “A 630-Meter Mini Antenna that also Works on 160 Meters”
by David Day, N1DAY; Ernie Hollingsworth, KC4SIT, and Sid
Hendricks, W4IOE
- “A Multiband Flagpole with Dual Top Hat Wires” by Donald
P. Crosby, W1EJM
- “A Compact, Removable 20-Meter Loaded Vertical Dipole”
by Stephen Appleyard, G3PND
Ford expressed his appreciation to all participants and to
Joel Hallas, W1ZR, who headed up the judging process. “It took
weeks to evaluate the entries, with a lot of that time spent
running antenna modeling applications and studying the results,”
Ford said. Next: The 2019 QST Key Design Competition
Hams have been building their own Morse keys since the dawn of
Amateur Radio, and some creations have become legend. In 2019,
QST is inviting participants to submit their best Morse
key/paddle designs in the QST Key Competition. Design styles
can include straight key, semiautomatic key (bug), paddle, or
sideswiper. The winner in each category will receive $250. Only one
entry may be accepted per person or team, and the deadline to submit
is June 1, 2019.
Entries must include the actual key (it will be returned
following judging) as well as detailed drawings, photos, and a
written narrative. Winners will be chosen based on ingenuity of
design, ergonomics of operation, and overall craftsmanship. The
judges’ decisions are final.
The key must be an independent mechanical device, not an
integral part of another device such as an electronic keyer.
Keys
Attorney Jane Hinckley Halprin Named as
FCC’s Administrative Law Judge
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has announced that Jane Hinckley Halprin
will serve as the agency’s Administrative Law Judge (ALJ). She
succeeds Judge Richard Sippel, who retired on December 1.
“Jane has done tremendous work at the FCC, and I congratulate
her on this new role,” Pai said. “The good judgment she
displayed working on ethics issues at the agency for over a
decade will serve her well as our Administrative Law Judge.” Pai
also thanked Sippel for his 32 years of service as an ALJ,
during which he dealt with several Amateur Radio cases.
Halprin joined the FCC in 1987 as a staff attorney in the
former Common Carrier Bureau and has occupied positions in the
former Mass Media Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications
Bureau, and the Office of General Counsel. For the past 14
years, she has served in the Office of General Counsel as an
Ethics Counsel and for the past year has led the agency’s ethics
team as Assistant General Counsel for Ethics.
The FCC Office of Administrative Law Judges is responsible
for conducting Commission-ordered hearings. An ALJ acts on
interlocutory requests filed in the proceedings, such as
contested discov
China's mission to the
farside of the Moon
China is going where no one has gone before--the farside of
the Moon.
Yesterday (Friday), a Long March 3B rocket blasted off from
the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, propelling a lander and
rover toward hidden craters possibly containing water and other
resources key to future human exploration.
If the mission succeeds, it will catapult China into the
forefront of lunar exploration with a landing that no other
nation has even dared to attempt.
Visit today's edition of
Spaceweather.com for the full story
Coverage set for Russian
spacewalk at International Space Station
Two Russian cosmonauts will venture outside the International
Space Station at 11 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 11, to conduct a six-hour
spacewalk. Live coverage will begin at 10 a.m. on NASA Television
and the agency’s website.
Expedition 57 Flight Engineers Oleg Kononenko
and Sergey Prokopyev of Roscosmos will use this
spacewalk to examine a section of the external hull of the Soyuz
MS-09 spacecraft currently docked to the space station.
In late August, a pressure leak occurred on the space station
that was traced to the Soyuz. Within hours after finding the source
of the leak, the Expedition 56 crew sealed the hole and the station
has since maintained a steady pressure.
The cosmonauts will take samples of any residue found on the hull
and take digital images of the area before placing a new thermal
blanket over it. The samples and images will provide additional
information that will aid the investigation into the cause of the
pressure leak. The cosmonauts also will retrieve science experiments
from Rassvet before heading back inside.
Amateur Radio Newsline Report- rehash of the week's news..
RADIO COMMUNICATION TO CONQUER AUSTRALIA'S BUSHFIRES
NEIL/ANCHOR: We begin this week with news of the bushfires plaguing
Australia. With the sweep of fires this month in Queensland still
pressing on Australians' minds, amateurs in Victoria, farther south,
are looking at a highly local strategy making use of amateur radio -
a blueprint they say can be replicated elsewhere. John Williams
VK4JJW has that story.
JOHN: Like wildfire season in California, bushfire season in
Australia brings the prospects of runaway, deadly destruction. That
time is happening now.
TONY: Our bushfire are wildfires that are a danger everywhere from
spring to autumn and the season like everywhere else is getting
longer.
JOHN: That is Tony Falla VK3KKP, who is about to help conduct a
training project in the Shire of Mount Alexander in Victoria,
Australia. The effort is designed to provide a greater safety net
against the deadly fires, also known as fire tornadoes. Tony said
that while the Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network works on a
grand scale, this effort is designed to be very community-based,
expanding on small radio networks that already exist in communities
within the shire where hams regularly check in with one another
anyway.
TONY: Most of the time everyone has got this things covered. They
have radio systems all in place between the emergency networks. What
they haven’t got – what I think is the missing link -- is the person
in the bush who needs to call for help and can’t get through and
that’s what I would hope we could provide.
JOHN: Most particularly that means disabled residents of the shire,
individuals who would have difficulty if evacuation is needed or
simply getting the message out that they’re in trouble. Starting on
the 12th of December, Tony, who is a member of the Bendigo Amateur
Radio and Electronics Club, will be working with committee members
of the Mount Alexander Shire Disability Advocacy Group who have
expressed an interest in getting a Foundation Licence to help build
this critical community-based network.
TONY: This is basically friends training friends to become eligible
to communicate using licenced equipment and that’s all. It is a bit
like the Air BnB of communication really. Just a friendship
ostensibly that develops into a network of people who listen out for
one another.
JOHN: The new hams will then go on to help other candidates,
establishing regular nets, health-and-welfare checks and of course
being ready for those emergencies when they happen.
TONY: We’ll be acting as an intermediary between the person calling
and 000 which is our 911 -- but if someone is in dire danger we will
be able to tell the police the fire brigade and so on that that’s
the case.
JOHN: That’s life-saving communication for the people in the shire
of M
VOICE BEACON GOES LIVE ON FOX-1CLIFF SATELLITE
NEIL/ANCHOR: At different times of the day, depending upon where you
are in the world, you might point your HT skyward, tune it to
145.920 and hear this: [insert clip] “Fox-1Cliff Safe Mode.” That
voice beacon also has a telemetry stream sending data back to AMSAT-North
America using sub-audible tones, giving the status of the Fox-1Cliff
satellite, which was among numerous ham radio satellites launched on
December 3rd from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It was
activated a few hours later. Paul Stoetzer N8HM, the executive vice
president of AMSAT-NA, told Newsline that it’s still in the testing
phase – so it’s for listening only. That’s what Newsline’s Dale Cary
WD0AKO was doing when he captured that clip for us as it passed over
his Minnesota QTH on Monday, December 3rd at 9:54 p.m. local time,
shortly after its activation. Sometime after the second week of
December, AMSAT hopes to enable operations on the 70cm and 23 cm
uplink frequencies as well – but not just yet. Meanwhile, hams are
encouraged to listen for this transmission of initial telemetry with
the beacon on the satellite’s passes and then join the more than 110
amateurs around the world who have already uploaded details to the
organization’s servers at amsat dot org (amsat.org) The message
repeats every two minutes. As for the voice you’re hearing deliver
it, that’s a young woman named Veronica who is the daughter of Tony
Monteiro AA2TX. Tony had been AMSAT’s vice president of engineering
and an unwavering advocate for the FOX series of satellites. Tony
became a Silent Key in 2014 but now it is his daughter who is
spreading the word that another satellite is making its way across
the sky.
TALLYING THE RESULTS FROM JAMBOREE ON THE AIR
NEIL/ANCHOR: There were big numbers and big results for radio scouts
in this year's Jamboree on the Air. Bill Stearns NE4RD adds it all
up for us.
BILL: This week in Radio Scouting, we take a look at our results
from Jamboree on the Air, we have one December activation to share,
and we take a look ahead to 2019.
Jamboree on the Air in the United States brought out 10,700 scouts,
4,005 visitors, and 266 reporting stations. This was a 36 percent
increase in scouts and nearly 18 percent increase in reporting
stations. It was a busy weekend for all, including those
participating in Jamboree on the Internet which saw an increase of
300 percent in activity. I see this as a call to the Amateur Radio
community to double our efforts for next year! Our featured station
in the report this year was K4L at Camp La-No-Che, in Paisley, FL
which reported:
This was our first official JOTA-JOTI at our camp in over a decade.
We had a soldout weekend of 1800 Cub Scouts for Cub Halloween & Fall
Festival. We setup our new 60-foot tower, and used everything under
the sun: HF, VHF, UHF, D-Star, DMR and Fusion. With 5 hams and 5-10
helpers throughout the day we managed to get everything through our
two little pop-up tents.
Congratulations to them and to all the other units and amateurs that
helped to make this year such a success.
For December activations we have one to share by Thomas Barker,
WA1HRH. He'll be activating a special event callsign W1M at the
Moses Scout Reservation in Russel, MA, from December 13th through
the 16th. All the radio activity for scouts will be Saturday during
the Woronoco Heights Outdoor Adventure where they not only have
radio as activity, but scouts will be participating in
Blacksmithing, Disc Golf, Geocaching, Orienteering, and more. Catch
this active group on the bands!
Finally we're looking at very busy 2019 ahead of us. We have new
goals to meet for Jamboree on the Air 2019, but before we get there
we'll be doing World Jamboree this summer. This will truly be the
year of Radio Scouting, and we're looking forward to you
participating!
For more information on Radio Scouting, please visit our website at
k2bsa.net.
ONE QSL CARD'S SPECIAL DELIVERY - EVENTUALLY
NEIL/ANCHOR: We all know that waiting for that special QSL card to
arrive can sometimes feel like forever. Well, it took forever - or
almost forever - for one QSL card to reach one amateur in Italy: try
a quarter century! Graham Kemp VK4BB tells us this tale of patience
and its great reward.
GRAHAM: Whether you are working on a kit build or troubleshooting an
antenna issue, patience is always a virtue that pays off for amateur
radio operators. Then, of course, you have Luigi, IV3XNF, for whom
patience proved a virtue for QSL cards. He only discovered recently
that his 1993 contact with FT4WD on Crozet Island was apparently
overlooked – so quietly in fact that Luigi himself believed that he
had actually got the QSL card from long ago before discovering that
no, it apparently was never sent. Realizing this, Luigi wrote to the
QSL manager Norbert F6AXX this past October and then settled back
into his wait. On Nov. 27, a jubilant Luigi posted a picture of the
card on Twitter which featured penguin after penguin after penguin
on the subantarctic island – and the proud 5 and 9 signal report for
the SSB contact with a French operator named Christian who held the
call sign FD1NOG at the time. His contact with IOTA AF008 has thus
been confirmed at last.
As Luigi wrote on Twitter, after 25 years: “never say never.”
HONORS IN OHIO FOR COMMUNITY SERVICE
NEIL/ANCHOR: Being a steady, reliable presence when the community
needs them has been the hallmark of one group of amateurs in
southern Ohio. Jack Parker W8ISH shares this club's latest
achievement.
JACK: Ohio residents who attended this year’s Christmas parade in
Ironton, the seat of Lawrence County, may have noticed members of
the Southern Ohio Amateur Radio Association providing communication
for the annual spectacle. Well, the ARRL has been taking notice of
the club too – and recently presented members with the Special
Service award for work serving the public at everything from annual
parades to emergency work during communications outages. Club
president James Rowe N8TVO received the award on behalf of the club
at its last meeting. Club members also train in first aid, CPR, fire
services and serve as SKYWARN watchers for the National Weather
Service, among their many other community assistance efforts.
Congratulations to the Southern Ohio amateurs.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I’m Jack Parker W8ISH.
HAM FINDS MORE U.S. LICENSEES THAN EVER BEFORE
NEIL/ANCHOR: If you're licensed in the U.S. and ever feel like
you're in diminishing company, think again: Kyle Pilquist KD0NDG
reported on his blog recently that his study of the FCC database,
along with some number-crunching, revealed that our hobby still
enjoys good health indeed. He reports on his blog that the ratio of
new members to cancelled licenses is 1.4-to-1. Kyle writes: [quote]
"So you could say for every cancellation we have almost 1 and a half
new licenses to replace that with." [endquote] Although the FCC told
Newsline it could not confirm the trend Kyle observed, the ARRL's
Dave Isgur, N1RSN told Newsline that yes indeed there is a slight
uptick in the number of licenses the league tracks. Dave said it
might be due to the emphasis these days on STEM education and a
focus on technology, along with the exposure amateur radio got
during the hurricanes of 2017. Whatever the reason, we all welcome
the news -- and the company on the air.
ONTARIO RADIO AMATEUR ADMITTED TO HALL OF FAME
NEIL/ANCHOR: The Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame just gained a
new member. Kevin Trotman N5PRE tells us more about him, his radio
career and this special honor.
KEVIN: Neil Carleton VE3NCE has much to be proud of right now. The
Ontario amateur has been admitted to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall
of Fame by the RAC’s board of trustees. In making its announcement
on Dec. 1, the board noted Neil’s commitment not just to his years
as a classroom teacher by profession but an educator in radio
science to youngsters in the Ontario school system. According to the
RAC, Neil served as one of the key advisors when the RAC Youth
Education Program was being developed to open kids’ eyes to ham
radio and, at the same time provide whatever resources teachers and
community youth groups need to further the kids’ education in the
subject.
Many of the hams who supported Neil’s induction into the Hall of
Fame noted that amateur radio has been as big a deal in his
classroom as textbooks themselves.
Said Bob Clermont VE3AKV [quote] “Mr.Carleton has used amateur radio
as an educational tool in his classroom for years, with contacts
around the world, having his students talking to various countries
and exotic locations. I most wholeheartedly support and endorse
Neil Carleton to the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.”
IN INDIA, A FAMILY REUNION THANKS TO RADIO
NEIL/ANCHOR: The power of radio is unmistakable. It has the power to
help save lives - and in this case, to reunite them, as we hear in
this report from Jeremy Boot G4NJH.
JEREMY: In India, a young man who had been reported missing for more
than six months was successfully reunited with his family in Bihar
with the help of the West Bengal Radio Club. Arun Kumar Rai’s family
had reported him missing after he had travelled to Kolkata to look
for work. Although the details weren’t clear about his subsequent
whereabouts, he had apparently met with an accident, was admitted to
a rural hospital, but had been unable to communicate with the
doctors. He was eventually moved to the M.R. Bangur Hospital in
Kolkata and their administrators had asked hams from the West Bengal
club for their assistance in tracking down his family.
The club’s secretary Ambarish Nag Biswas, VU2JFA, told the Times of
India that because it was difficult to ascertain where the young man
had been before his admission to hospital, it was difficult to track
down his family. He added that the man’s photograph was then
circulated by other club amateurs, with better results. His family
was tracked down to their village in Bihar and they arrived, not
long afterwards. Soon the 25-year-old was heading home with them on
a train.
The reunion came only two weeks after the club had also assisted
with the return of a 55-year-old man to his family in Tripura after
he too had gone missing four months earlier.
WORLD OF DX
In this week’s World of DX, listen for Alex, 5B4ALX, active as
C4XMAS in Cyprus until December 31st to celebrate the Christmas
season. He is on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes.
QSL via IZ4AMS, direct, by the Bureau or ClubLog.
In the DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Peter, DD1GG, is active through December
19th as DD1GG/HI. He is operating holiday style on various HF bands.
QSL via his home callsign.
Tom, N9EAW, is on the air as HQ9T from Roatan Island, Honduras,
until December 18th. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW
and SSB. QSL via N9EAW direct.
December is YOTA month – Youngsters On The Air. Be listening all
month for youngsters active with the "YOTA" suffix in the callsign.
Participating stations include 4O18YOTA Montenegro, HA6YOTA Hungary,
R18YOTA RUSSIA and dozens of others.
There’s an update too on the much-anticipated Three-Y-Zero-Eye
DXpedition to Bouvet Island. While the departure date is still not
known, the team has room for two more operators competent in CW and
SSB and experienced in handling challenging weather. If you’re up
for the challenge, drop a line to Dom at k38dom at gmail dot com
(k38dom@gmail.com)
KICKER: HAVING A HOLIDAY QSO WITH 'SERGIO & SERGEI' IN JAPAN
NEIL/ANCHOR: Continuing its trip around the globe, a popular film
about amateur radio during the Cold War Era is about to be released
in theaters in two more countries. Mike Askins KE5CXP has the
details.
MIKE: Who doesn’t love a holiday movie? “Miracle on 34th Street.”
“Polar Express. “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Only a Grinch among amateur
radio operators would dare to challenge the latest one to be
released into theaters on Saturday, Dec. 1st. “Sergio & Sergei,”
which debuted in the U.S. earlier this year, has finally made its
way to the screen in Japan, as of Saturday, December 1st, and is set
to show up in theaters in Poland on December 7th. Set in the Cold
War Era, just as the Soviet Union is in the throes of collapse, the
film tells the story of the friendship between an amateur radio
operator in Cuba and the cosmonaut Sergei, circling the earth in
limbo aboard the Mir space station as political dismantling of the
USSR gets under way below. The 93-minute film was an award-winner at
the recent Havana Film Festival in New York, for best script. Now
the creative team is hoping the dialogue in its Morse Code and SSB
sequences get a good signal report from movie-going hams and
non-hams – in any language.
For Amateur Radio Newsline I’m Mike Askins KE5CXP.
TGIF EDITION: Good
morning to all, another day in paradise...no snow, sunny, flat calm
on the ocean, about 29 nipply degrees out, I don't have to go out so
it doesn't make any difference....NE Pats can wrap up the division
this Sunday....CAARA radio club
has the Xmas Party this Saturday.....A computer repair store in
Gloucester, next to me, is opening up a Radio Shack store as part of
his business. that should be interesting, he opens next week....
Introducing the RS-BA1 Version 2 Dualwatch
Remote Control Software
The RS-BA1 remote control software gained
popularity by allowing Amateur radio operators to operate selected
Icom radios from a PC via IP.
The RS-BA1 offers real-time operation with low latency,
high-quality audio allowing you to use an Icom radio installed in
another room using your home network, or even from a remote location
over the Internet.
A new version of this software is now available called
RS-BA1 Version 2 which will allow users to take advantage
of some of the features of HF radios such as the IC-7610, IC-7851
and IC-7850 including dualwatch operation and dual spectrum scope.
The RS-BA1 Version 2 will allow the dualwatch operation and dual
spectrum scopes with waterfall functions* to be used on your remote
PC. MAIN and SUB spectrum scopes can be observed on the RS-BA1
Version 2 at the same time. Of course, the RS-BA1 Version 2 can be
used with Icom single receiver transceivers. We advise that you
consult with the product leaflet for the level of compatibility and
available functions.
To find out more about this product visit the dedicated
RS-BA1 Version 2 Dualwatch Remote Control Software Product Page
.
The RS-BA1 Version 2 is available from all Authorised Icom
Amateur radio dealers. Two versions are available including a
packaged version with the RC-28 remote controller with a suggested
retail price of £282.00 inc.VAT. A standalone RS-BA1 Version 2
upgrade for previous users of the RS-BA1 Version 1 is available with
a suggested retail price of £84.00 inc.VAT.
Please note:
* RS – BA 1 Version 2 is a new product. You cannot upgrade the
previous RS –BA1. It is necessary to purchase the new version.
** The dualwatch and dual spectrum scope functions are only for the
IC-7851, IC-7850 and IC-7610. The spectrum scope functions (single
receive) are usable with the IC-7300.
Foundations of Amateur Radio #183
How do I get a better antenna?
The question that new amateurs most often ask after "What radio
should I buy?" is "How do I get the best antenna?".
In a household where you're the only antenna affected aficionado
the question is likely more along the lines of: "Why do you need
another antenna?".
The answer is pretty much the same, an antenna is fit for
purpose, generally only one purpose.
Going from A to B without walking might involve a car. If it's
just you, one seat is enough, if your local cricket team is coming
too, you might need more seats. If the road is rough, you might need
a good suspension and if it's the middle of summer in Australia,
air-conditioning isn't a luxury but a necessity.
Each of those different requirements varies depending on
circumstance and need. There are plenty more variables, fuel,
distance, cost, and the deeper you dig, the more choices.
Antennas are no different.
While cars have an element of fashion, colour, styling etc.
antennas are more utilitarian, radio amateurs rarely care about the
colour of their contraption, but they do care about cost,
construction and performance.
Those three variables alone would make for plenty of choice, but
we've not yet talked about some other variables that come into play.
If you're a licensed amateur, picking the frequency you want to
use is obvious and a major factor in the choice of antenna, but if
you're not an amateur, that's not something obvious, but you have
seen it before.
Without going into the physics of how and why, imagine all the
antennas you've seen in your life. There's a TV antenna on the roof,
the antenna on a transistor radio, an antenna on a car, the antenna
on your Wi-Fi modem, a mobile phone antenna, satellite dishes, you
might have seen antennas near train lines, on top of traffic lights,
on a GPS and on a satellite phone. You might not be familiar with
all of them, but enough to know that there is a huge range of
different types of antennas. The more you look, the more variation
you find.
You might think that each of those different antennas was chosen
at the whim of the person spending the money, but actually, each of
those antennas was chosen for a specific job. Each of those antennas
works on at least one frequency, sometimes more and does so taking
into account its purpose. Is the antenna for sending, or receiving,
or both? Is it supposed to work regardless of where it's installed,
or how high off the ground it is? Does it need to take into account
interference from a particular direction? Is it meant for strong or
weak signals, does it need to have a defined lifespan, deal with a
particular wind strength, etc. etc.
Answering each of those questions determines the choices made to
select an antenna from the infinite variety available.
As an amateur, my licence allows me to operate in six different
frequency ranges or bands. Technically that means at least six
different antennas, just so I can use the frequencies I'm licensed
for.
Of course I'm only scratching the surface here, since I've
already explained that antennas come in many different shapes and
sizes, each with different characteristics and trade-offs.
So next time you wonder why so many different antennas, that's
why.
If you've been wondering when I'll answer the bit about the best
antenna, you should already have a clue by now, but the real answer
is unsurprisingly: "That depends."
"On what?" you ask.
On which ever variables you care about and to which degree. The
best antenna depends on the questions you ask. Ask better questions,
get a better antenna.
I'm Onno VK6FLAB
To listen to the podcast, visit the website:
http://podcasts.vk6flab.com/.
A message just arrived on my phone that said :a
little bit further north and Cape Ann would be in "the ass crack of
the world"...
THURSDAY EDITION:
Sunny, calm, and cold here on Cape
Ann....Former Governor Deval Patrick announces he will not run for
President. This is the asshole that's first order of business
was charging the state for a new Cadillac for his personal vehicle,
old diamond Deval....Now if we can get the dems to run "Pocahontas"
Warren for Prez, the Republican are guaranteed a win in 2020,
especially if they can replace Trump with anyone who doesn't know
how to tweet and can zip his lips once in a while....
New Two-Ham ISS Crew Launched to ISS is
the First Since Aborted October Flight
Three astronauts — including two radio amateurs — have docked at
the International Space Station (ISS) on the first crewed
Soyuz vehicle launch since a dramatic failure in October.
The astronauts the US, Canada, and Russia, left Kazakhstan at
1130 UTC on December 3, and the Russian space agency Roscomos
confirmed their successful docking at the station. On board were
David Saint-Jacques, KG5FYI, a Canadian engineer,
astrophysicist, and medical doctor; space veteran Oleg Kononenko,
RN3DX, of Russia, and Anne McClain, of the US. Investigators
have blamed a faulty sensor, said to have been damaged during
assembly in Kazakhstan. Crew commander Kononenko said his crew
recognized the risks of spaceflight as part of their profession
and expressed confidence in the flight preparation.
The three-person crew’s mission was originally set for later
this month, but officials moved up the date to avoid leaving the
space station unstaffed, when the current ISS crew of cosmonaut
Sergey Prokopyev and astronauts Serena Auñón-Chancellor, KG5TMT,
and Alexander Gerst, KF5ONO, return to Earth on December 20.
Meanwhile, NASA astronaut Nick Hague, KG5TMV, who was on the
aborted October 11 Soyuz launch, is getting ready for
another try. Hague, NASA astronaut Christina Hammock Koch, and
cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin are scheduled to launch from Baikonur
Cosmodrome on February 28 aboard the Russian Soyuz MS-12
spacecraft.
The trio will join the ISS Expedition 58 crew that just went
up, and they will return to Earth in October 2019 as members of
Expedition 60. Hague and Koch will serve as flight engineers for
Expeditions 59 and 60. Ovchinin will serve as a flight engineer
on Expedition 59 and as the commander of Expedition 60.
This will be Koch’s first spaceflight. Hague and Ovchinin
were on their way to join the station’s Expedition 57 crew on
October 11, when their Soyuz’s rocket booster experienced
a malfunction shortly after launch, aborting the mission. Both
returned safely to Earth. The MS-10 flight abort marked the
first Russian human spaceflight booster accident in 35 years.
Investigators looking into the October 11 incident said
afterward that other Soyuz vehicles may have been similarly
defective, but pointed out that additional pre-flight checks had
been introduced. NASA offered its own reassurances about
continued cooperation with and confidence in the Russian space
program.
Navigating the vast array of amateur radio equipment today is one
of the most difficult tasks for hams young and old. We are inundated
with new products, enamored of once great ones and in a complete
quandary as to what to use in the shack. How do I know this? The
proliferation of equipment reviews.
Now don’t get me wrong. I am an insatiable reader of reviews. Who
isn’t? I mean really. Even you old code-knowing bull-extras must
admit that you don’t understand the technical information published
with new equipment. Oh I see you sitting there all sage looking and
stuff when they mention that the FM sensitivity is (BW: 15 kHz at
12dB SINAD) is 0.32ìV @ 54 mHz but you can’t fool me. You have no
clue what that means. Oh, you have your wife fooled about this,
alright. I get that. “But HONEY!” you say…“How can I not buy it? The
FM sensitivity is….well let me write it down so you can see it more
clearly (BW: 15 kHz at 12dB SINAD) is 0.32ìV @ 54 mHz! So you see
honey it is really important that I get this IC-7851. And look at
the upside…..It is only $14,000.00 and Myrtle’s husband just paid
$38,000.00 for a bass boat! And he doesn’t even let her drive it…and
you can get your license and use this radio anytime you like…and
even with the tower and antenna this radio ‘needs’ it STILL won’t
come up to what even a smaller bass boat than Myrtle’s husband’s
boat would cost….and…well... Honey, if you really want a bass boat
like Myrtle’s I could go for that instead. We could get one instead
of the new radio. And it would be something we could do together.
Every weekend you could put on a bikini and ride on the seat up
front and we could clean the fish together and you could cook on the
boat and help me load it on the trailer behind our new boat-towing
truck…..and…” No. You can’t fool me. You have no clue what those
numbers mean. What you do know is that you are dying to practice the
complacency in your voice when you say, nonchalantly….”rig here is
an IC-7851...” and you immediately become known as ….“that is Bill.
He is the president (for life) of the radio club. He has an
Icom-7851….. you modestly smile from across the room.”
Well anyway. Reviews.
Reviews are valuable before any purchase. They give you the
opportunity to see what other hams have to say about the equipment
you are about to purchase. Always honest and objective, your fellow
hams will never steer you wrong; true Elmers to the man (or woman as
the case may be.)
There are several kinds of reviews and we will look at each one
of them in turn. Before we do however it is important to understand
the five point scoring system typically used in reviews. Here is
what those numbers mean.
FIVE
Five is the highest score a piece of equipment can get. This is
the transcendent item that each ham should have. It means that there
is nothing better in its category and (we must also consider) for
the price. Price is very important to keep in mind when seeing a
five rating. This must be why the Tempo 2020, (yes I have trashed
this overcomplicated Chinese puzzle of a radio before)… a radio
which is one of the most frustrating pieces of…ah…equipment that has
ever urged its considerable bulk onto the amateur radio stage and
which people will literally pay you to haul away if they can just
keep the power cord to sell to another unsuspecting ham who read the
reviews that….wait for it…rate it higher than the $3300.00 TenTec
Orion or the even more expensive and sophisticated Icom 7610. And
maybe it would be a good choice if the bleeding cord did not bring
the cost of the Tempo up to that of the other two……Anyway…
Five is also important to the reviewer for validation. It goes
something like this: I bought this. I am smart and knowledgeable. I
even know code. Others rated it 5. It has to be good.
Finally 5 is for Collins. If you try to enter anything less than
5 for a Collins radio the posts are likely to be deleted by the
moderator because the reviewer is obviously deranged. Any reviewer
who to rates Collins equipment under 5 is just an iconoclastic
hard-nose who could not afford one when it was new and who wants to
trash it just to get up the noses of the hams who could afford it.
He/she is in all likelihood a no-code extra who works mainly,
shudder, phone.
FOUR and THREE
Four and Three are the two honest ratings. A reviewer who gives
something a four or a three is really thinking about the equipment.
It goes without saying that most equipment really is about average
or slightly above average. These are the reviews that usually make
the most sense. That is why they are totally useless and is why we
are thoroughly upset when we read them. What am I to learn from a
review that tells me that the equipment I am lusting after is
just...well…fine? Can you imagine buying a golf club that advertises
that you will hit the ball just about the same as you always have
but this one is newer and prettier? Do you want to read that the
Global Eliminator Premier Magnum 201S/AT that you just paid $6000.00
for is….well….according to some guy in Georgia, “very nice”?
Now there is a big difference between 3 and 4. (You knew there
would be.) Four means that the item was not disappointing. 3 means
that someone who saw The 32-bit high speed floating decimal point
DSP, TMRPS220C6727B (maximum 2800 MIPS/ 2100 MFLOPS) made by
“Merican Instruments in the USA by ‘Mercans did not stop his
neighbor’s aquarium heater from blowing away that Clipperton Island
station and he would have to go ahead and talk to his neighbor and
give him a piece of his mind about his noisemaker, like he has been
meaning to for seven years if he could only catch the guy at home
because he travels a lot wrestling on TV and he just keeps missing
him. Three also means that Yaesu put a rebate on the radio a week
after he bought it.
TWO
Ratings of Two are reserved for those items whose instruction
manuals could not be read by a team of German engineers, Japanese
technical writers and Egyptian scribes. These reviews are almost
always posted by hams who do not have a 12 year old boy in the
household. Two is never given by someone who has actually read the
manual in the presence of the radio. This is key. Most manuals are
read on the cra…that is to say read in the toil……what I mean to say
is not read while actually operating the radio.
Two might also mean that the reviewer bought the item used and it
arrived with a scratch on it. Or that it did not make his code
faster. Or after 11 years the battery died. My favorite “two” review
was written by a guy who subsequently tried to sell the radio on the
same site where he posted the ‘two’ review. His ad was, shall we
just say, somewhat divergent from his review.
ONE AND ZERO
Somebody at the factory did not call the reviewer back or he got
dropped into voice mail. These ratings also apply to new equipment
that was damaged in shipping. Other reasons for a one rating are
late delivery, shipping fees, missing screws, Paypal problems and
communists/lib’rals. How about the guy who gave a new Icom 7800 a
zero? Why? Because it was broken. Did he send it in for repair? No.
He couldn’t make it work, or it had a fault from the factory so it
was the worst possible radio. If he still has it I hereby offer him
$100.00 for it and I will come get it and take the abomination off
his hands before it gets his dog preg…I mean causes a problem.
Now that we understand these ratings we can actually start to
look at the reviews themselves. My first inclination was to simply
mention some of the things we have all experienced but I think a
more organized approach is called for. For this reason I am going to
start with the big Kahuna… HF Transceivers.
REVIEWING HF TRANSCEIVERS
This is where it all starts. Without a good transceiver we are
just aging know-it-alls annoyingly drumming our fingers on the
table. At least the code types are. What better way to choose a
transceiver than to carefully read the reviews that other hams
offer? (Well. Actually trying out the rig is better but what good is
that advice in an article about reviews?)
The first thing you should know about transceivers is that all of
them are very important to their owners. They get a 5 for the same
reason that a cranky ugly step child does. It may not be much but it
is mine, I got it on purpose and I’m darned well going love it.
There is an often quoted review site (named after a famous
forest) that posts highly technical reviews about transceivers. I am
just as sure that they know exactly what they are talking about as I
am sure that the rest of us really, don’t. My guess is that very few
of us get much further than the ranking of the machine on that site.
It has a great deal of very technical information available for us.
I am sure it is very edifying to read and understand this
information. If I had a child I would want him/her to read it. But
when I show it to my very smart XYL her eyes glaze over just a bit
faster than mine do. Also Mr. Sherwood. When your footnotes go
through the entire alphabet and get up to .af again you are not
being thorough, you are being unkind.
Some of my favorite transceiver reviews are posted by what I can
only refer to as the ‘eager beaver’. How many times have I read a
very thoughtful and fact-filled review only to get to the last line,
which reads, “and as soon as I can afford it I am going to buy one
and actually try it”. Oh for God’s sake man. You should not tease
people like that. You posted a review and you have never used the
radio? You should write a sex manual. I actually saw a transceiver
review which went into great detail about a particular transmitter’s
AGC overshoot and its effect on amplifiers and then said, “…and that
is why I am not ever going to buy this transceiver or an amplifier”.
Will someone please hit this guy with a wet sock for me?
Some reviewers are engineer types. They stack their pencils up
according to height and know every feature of the transceiver
backward and forward. Then they post a 1200 word tome getting into
such details as the cabinet height and what menu item setting the
clock is. Thanks for that. If I wanted to read the manual I’d go to
the bath….well who reads manuals anyway? Manuals? Really? Why do you
think that that guy who writes those handy mini-manuals, whoever he
is, drives a Porsche and lives on a mega yacht with a fallen Hooters
girl named Bitsy?
While we are here I guess it is time to put a stop to another
familiar take-off point. Don’t we all love the reviews which begin,
“I have been a ham for over 112 years…” We all understand and
respect your experience but I have to say that if I was about to
have a medical procedure and the surgeon wheeling himself into the
OR greeted me with, “Hi. My name is doctor Methuselah. I have been a
surgeon for over 90 years and I will be doing your colonoscopy today
young fellow” I would fly out of the room and not stop running until
I hit McDonalds. (Most of you know what I mean about the McDonalds
reference. If you don’t you will when you turn 50.) If your Elmer
was Heinrich Rudolf Hertz you have bragging rights on me for sure
but here is the thing. Some people have one year of experience and
some people have 20 years of experience but most people have one
year of experience twenty times. Ok? You have experience. You know
how to use those beeping key thingies. Got it.
I honestly love the review I read for a modern transceiver that
read, “I have been a ham for over 60 years and have only had three
transceivers. I can tell you this Yaesu xxxx is the very best one I
have ever had. I am going to keep it for the rest of my life”. I
learned a whole lot from that. On the flipside I really have to give
credit to the guy who posted this review. I am paraphrasing.
“ I am a new ham and this is my first radio. I really love it and
I have talked to a lot of people on it. It sounds really good. It
took some study and practice to learn how to use it. I think you
should get one and then concentrate on talking to a lot of people
too.” No stuff. I think this is the most truthful review ever
posted. Not only that, but I find the enthusiasm shown by this ham
heartwarming. I almost bought a radio like his to remind myself of
what I love about this hobby in the first place. Perhaps I relearned
more about amateur radio from that review than from all of the
others I have ever read.
OK. So they almost had to beat the breath back into me (I was
laughing so hard) when I read this about a top-end Kenwood. “I
previously gave this transceiver a 3 because the front-end was so
weak. I want to revise my review and give it a 5. I replaced my G5RV
Mini with a 3 element Mosley and the radio came alive”. That ranks
right up there with “the SWR on this transceiver is terrible. I
can’t get it under 5 to 1 so I am giving it a 3.”
Why is it that every other reviewer’s “other rig” is a Yaesu
9000MP, and Icom 7850 or a Flex 9631.56 (or whatever they are up to
this week.) . We have all seen it. It goes something like this. “I
have an Icom 7851, a Kenwood 990S and a Flex 6700 but I find myself
coming back to the ole’ TS-120.” I have just one serious question
for this reviewer. Sir. What in the name of all that is holy is
wrong with you? You bought $25,000.00 worth of radios and didn’t
notice that they had a great many buttons, levers and twisty
thingies on them? OK. The venerable TS-120 has ‘raised’ a few
generations of hams. But if you have all of those other rigs and
can’t resist the 120’s smell of pledge and aging electrolytic you
need to box those mega rigs up and send them to me. I will read the
manuals (Or at least the rich guy’s perfume infused mini guides) and
put them to good use. It would be OK to say that you liked using it
for its simplicity but be honest. Compared to those other rigs, it
sorta’ bites. (Not the Tempo’s major biteage mind you.) It is
completely analog, granted, but it goes from off to noisy-sucky mode
almost immediately. There is something to be said for that. I had
one as did the majority of us lest we look down our noses but the
question hanging in the air is……Rating of 5? There was a reason you
gave it to the new guy in the radio club and it wasn’t because it
was the best transceiver, ever.
Now I just have to ask you. Really folks. Be honest. Can you
really tell the difference in sensitivity between an Icom 756 Pro
and an Icom 756 Pro II? And that begs the question. Why did you
replace your Pro (which you rated 5 six months ago) with a Pro II
which you are rating 5 today. OK. We get that you bought Microsoft
when it was $10 a share but did you really need a new radio? Well
that is a dumb question on my part I guess. Who among us does not
need a new radio every few weeks?
Rating transceivers is the most fun for sure. It is also where
you hear the most nonsense. You can take this from me, and I think I
speak for all of us when I say, we do not have a clue what
third-order-pre-injection intermodulation is. (Or if it is even a
real thing but I just got some of you, didn’t I? You know who you
are. You just Googled it didn’t you? Fess up.) So come on folks.
Give us what we want. Tell us we are going to love it. Tell us it is
so sensitive that it can separate two stations both on 14.300. Tell
us that it will work Pitcairn, record our QSO’s, pet the cat and
give us DX Century club on 6 meters. Remember the most important
thing you must keep in mind when you write a transceiver review is
this…If we, your gentle readers, didn’t already want it we wouldn’t
be reading the review.
Amplifiers
The first thing to remember is that there are two kinds of
amplifiers. Ameritron and the others. Ameritron makes (if I remember
correctly) exactly 2732 different kinds of Amplifiers. (Next month’s
new product releases are not out yet.) All of the others make about
6. One of the cool things about MFJ amplifiers (other than the fact
that they work really well for less than the price of a Jaguar) is
that if you read the advertising in their catalog you know pretty
much all you need to know to buy one. All of the others make claims
like the league of superheroes and justice. “Buy this Omega 45,000
and you will be able to work dead popes like never before. It can
transmit RTTY at 3000 watts, on the international calling frequency,
until the FCC comes knocking.“
It is important that we use real word examples so I commend to
you this one. “Before I decided to buy an ACOM 1000 I operated a
couple of other amplifiers like the Ameritron AL-811, Heathkit
SB-200 and Yaesu FL-2100Z.” Boy you sure put that Acom to the test.
You compared it to an amplifier that costs new 1/5 of what the ACOM
costs new and the other two? The Yaesu could have been used to
announce Willie Mays rookie season….and the Heathkit? Well there are
two kinds of 200’s. The kind that are made by Heathkit and assembled
by some guy named Earl and the kind that are made by Harbach by
jacking up a Heathkit case and putting new guts under it. So this
review was analogous to this one: “I compared the Bentley Turbo S
Salon to the Plymouth and the Desoto and like the Bentley better.”
Fascinating. I am glad you shared that with us.
All amplifier reviews must start out with the phrase, “this AMP
puts out a full___xxxx_watts. Good for it. As I said in a previous
article, and this is a key point, if your amplifier does not put out
its rated power it is broken. Do not review it because it is broken.
Of course you have checked to make sure it is attached to an
antenna, on the correct frequency, getting enough juice from the
exciter…..etc. You did. Right? Start again.
I actually stopped a bad review from happening one time. A
‘friend’ called me to tell me that the Amer…that is to say, unnamed
amplifier he had just bought at a hamfest did not work, I believe he
said, it was not worth a tinker’s something. He was going to get
right on eHam and tell everyone about this mighty fine…..that is to
say, amp. I was surprised because the amp was an old favorite of
mine and one I knew to be pretty much bullet proof. I asked him the
usual questions and come to find out he had even taken the tube out
and tried it in his other amp. It worked fine. I was just about to
tell him to send it back to MF…I mean the factory when he paused and
said, “this amp was a pain in the behind from the start. I had to
cut the “foreign” plug off and wire a new one just to get it to plug
into the wall”. And I learned about reviews from that. I wish he had
sent it back for repair. I imagine the good folks at Stark….uh.. the
factory could use a laugh.
Another thing to think about when reading Amplifier reviews is
this. Very few hams know what PEP actually means. I did read a
review that said, “The PEP in this amp is not good at all on SSB.”
Sigh.
Moving on. I totally get that you are more proud of the Eimac
tube in your amplifier than you are of your daughter who got her
ankle monitor cut off early for good behavior but seriously Mr.
Reviewer. We did not really need to know the brand of the tube. I
also take exception to your referring to some tubes as “Chicom”. I
know it will upset some of my gentle readers to say it but if the
tube works it works. That is pretty much the deal. (I have about
3000 tubes and love them all equally. Well there is this one little
magic eye hottie…..)
I was about to launch into antennas when it occurred to me that I
would be heading for the rocks if I do. Besides, the little counter
just hit 3400 words. So just a couple of comments about antennas.
If, during an A/B test your shorty dipole outperforms your three
element Yagi, you should install a rotor, not rate it zero. If you
have a rotor turn the antenna 90 degrees and tell us what happened.
(Then you should go look up the tower. The reflector is the long
one.) If all of these things are correct then take a hack saw to
your tower.
Before you write a review please understand this. Nobody
understands gain. You are just as qualified as the antenna
manufacturers to claim that your antenna has gain. How much is
completely up to you. In order to sound knowledgeable be sure to
pick either DBI or DBD. Either one will do. Nobody understands them
either and you are just guessing anyway. If you want bonus points be
sure to mention an isotropic radiator. That will knock them dead.
Just don’t do what one fine reviewer did and claim that you have
one.
Well. That is a short take on reviews. We can cover some more if
y’all like. Please keep writing them. I love reading them and they
are a real service. Don’t go reading mine. I will just claim that I
had been drinking at the time anyway.
Copyright Rick McCallum
STILL NIPPY WEDNESDAY: I see a little sea smoke
on the ocean today, that's cold....I hear Durham, NH is not having a
xmas tree next year, it offends some of the residents. Land of the
Free, Home of the brave, my ass.....
FCC Will Be Closed on Wednesday, December
5.....I imagine the ARRL will too..
In observance of the National Day of Mourning for President
George H.W. Bush, the FCC will close on Wednesday, December 5.
All paper and electronic filings due on December 5 are now due
on Thursday, December 6, the Commission’s next official business
day. Additionally, December 5 will not count in computing filing
periods shorter than 7 days because it will be a Commission
holiday. Due to the unanticipated closure of the federal
government on Wednesday, December 5, the Commission will delay
the onset of the sunshine period prohibition with respect to its
December 12 Open Meeting. The sunshine period prohibition will
begin at 11:59 PM on Thursday, December 6, rather than at 11:59
PM on Wednesday, December 5.
Space Junk: Fox-1Cliff initial
telemetry received
Fox-1Cliff with an amateur radio FM transponder
was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on December
3 at 18:34:05 GMT and activated at 23:54:27 GMT
The AMSAT website reports:
At approximately 00:30 UTC on December 4th, several stations in
Brazil, including PS8MT, PT9BM, and PT2AP, reported hearing the
voice beacon “Fox-1Cliff Safe Mode,” confirming that the satellite
was alive.
Just before 00:40 UTC, AMSAT Fox-1 Team Member Burns Fisher,
WB1FJ, was the first to submit and upload telemetry to the AMSAT
servers.
Initial telemetry values show the satellite to be in good health.
Thanks to the 29 different stations that contributed telemetry
during Fox-1Cliff’s initial orbits. All stations are encouraged to
please continue collecting telemetry during the commissioning
process and are reminded not to transmit on the uplink frequencies
until AMSAT opens the satellite for general use. The commissioning
process is expected to take approximately 7-10 days.
I think I will pass on this one...
Naked women cleaning biz
smashes patriarchy by introducing naked bloke gardening service
'We won't go too close with the
chainsaws and whatnot'
Lazy perverts of all genders, get in here. Australia has the
household service for you.
Bare All Cleaning, which sends women round to do chores in
the buff, has hit back at claims of sexism by rolling out a
gardening service performed by naked blokes.
No, not that kind of gardening service. Actual
gardening, like... hedge trimming.
"We're a naked cleaning and gardening service, we're all
across Australia but we've recently come to Adelaide," founder
Brett Jones says
"Whatever floats your boat, we can try and cater for that."
Hate ironing and folding (seriously, who even does that)?
AU$90 an hour will get a scantily clad or Full Monty cleaner to
do it for you. If $650 is burning a hole in your pocket, a team
of two will "cook and clean", the telly news channel reported.
Wet T-shirt window washing and after-party clean-ups for the
hungover round out the female side of the offering.
To counter "a barrage" of totally "unfounded" accusations of
sexism, Jones started sister biz Bare All Gardeners.
And it appears new recruit Leeroy Evans couldn't be happier
with his hiring. "It's kind of liberating, everybody likes to
get their kit off now and again. It's all natural," he said.
"Vitamin D is great for your skin.
"Obviously we won't go too close with the chainsaws and
whatnot."
The Australian public is a bit "Yeah, nah".
"It's pretty disgusting, wouldn't you say?" said one chap
interviewed on the street. "It sounds like borderline
prostitution."
The firm enforces a "look but don't touch" policy, though
admitted that it once had to remove a worker who was "at risk"
of harassment. "They're there to do the job, they're not there
to provide a sex service," Jones said. NIPPY TUESDAY: Funeral this morning, its going to
be cold at the graveyard....
AMSAT's Fox-1Cliff Amateur Radio CubeSat
Launched Successfully
SpaceX has announced that the SSO-A: SmallSat Express mission
carrying AMSAT’s Fox-1Cliff CubeSat has been deployed into
orbit. A SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle carried Fox-1Cliff and several
other satellites into space this afternoon Eastern Time from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, following a 1-day
launch delay. “Successful deployment of four microsats and the
upper and lower free flyer with additional payloads for
Spaceflight SSO-A: SmallSat Express confirmed. Follow
@SpaceflightInc
for further mission updates,” SpaceX tweeted this afternoon
following the launch. (See
the launch on YouTube.)
In addition to Fox-1Cliff, the SSO-A mission carried several
other Amateur Radio satellites, including FUNcube on ESEO,
JY1-SAT, K2SAT, and ExseedSat.
Fox-1Cliff carries the Fox-1 U/v FM repeater, AMSAT’s L-Band
Downshifter, the flight spare of the AO-85 Vanderbilt University
Low Energy Proton (LEP) radiation experiment, and the standard
Fox-1 Penn State University-Erie MEMS gyroscope experiment.
Virginia Tech provided a video graphics array camera that’s
similar to the one on AO-92 but which will provide images at a
higher 640 × 480 resolution.
The Fox-1Cliff downlink for FM voice and data-under-voice (DUV)
is 145.920 MHz. Uplinks are 435.300 and 1267.300 MHz.
Fox-1Cliff is named in honor of long-time AMSAT member,
contributor, and benefactor Cliff Buttschardt, K7RR (SK), who
died in 2006. His contributions to AMSAT and other Amateur
Satellite programs — including his service as an adviser during
the initial development of the CubeSat specification at
California Polytechnic State University — earned him the
Lifetime Achievement Award from Project OSCAR in 2006.
In November as the launch was pending, AMSAT asked Amateur
Radio satellite enthusiasts to listen for Fox-1Cliff’s telemetry
for the initial 72 – 96 hours as on-orbit checkout gets under
way. The first station to successfully receive and submit
telemetry to the AMSAT server will receive a special 3D printed
QSL card acknowledging their contribution.
“If you are capturing telemetry with FoxTelem, please
be sure that “Upload to Server” is checked in your settings and
your Ground Station Params are filled in as well,” AMSAT has
said. In the initial Safe Mode or Beacon Mode after startup, the
transmitter is limited to 10 seconds on time followed by a
2-minute off cycle. “You will hear Veronica announcing
‘Fox-1Cliff Safe Mode,’ while in Beacon Mode,” AMSAT said.
AMSAT has said that the on-orbit check-out procedure will be
similar to Fox-1D and could be completed in as few as 7 days.
“It is very important, not to mention just plain good Amateur
operating practice, to refrain from using the transponder
uplink, so we can do the on orbit tests, FCC Tells LED Sign Marketers to Abide by
Statutes and Rules
The FCC Enforcement Bureau has
called on on marketers of light-emitting diode
(LED) signs to ensure that these lights comply with FCC rules.
Since March of this year, the agency has entered into 21
settlement agreements with companies that marketed noncompliant
LED signs in violation of the Communications Act and FCC rules.
The settlements yielded approximately $850,000 in penalties, and
commitments to ensure compliance with the law going forward.
Adherence to the FCC’s equipment authorization and marketing
rules is critical because radio frequency emissions from the
signs may cause harmful interference to licensed communications,
such as wireless services, the FCC said.
“In light of these recent settlements, we remind LED sign
marketers of their obligations under the law,” said Enforcement
Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold. “The FCC takes seriously its
responsibility in ensuring that energy-emitting devices like LED
lights do not interfere with authorized transmissions.”
LED lights are often used in digital billboards and other
commercial and industrial applications, including billboards and
large video displays in sports arenas. Given the electrical
design of these lights, they may emit RF energy. Prior to being
marketed in the US, LED sign models must be tested and comply
with FCC technical standards and must include the proper
labeling, identification, and user information disclosures. The
FCC Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) oversees the
equipment authorization
process for RF devices, including LED
signs.
The Enforcement Bureau investigated hundreds of indoor and
outdoor LED sign models and discovered repeated FCC rule
violations concerning the failure to market the models with the
required equipment authorizations, labeling, and user
information disclosures. To settle its respective investigation,
each company verified that the models at issue were brought into
compliance with FCC rules, agreed to pay a monetary penalty, and
committed to abide by a compliance plan to improve internal
procedures to avoid future violations.
The Bureau has settled 21 investigations to date, with
penalties as high as $115,000.
Each
settlement is available on the FCC Enforcement
Bureau home page. SOGGY MONDAY EDITION:
The sun has become a rare commodity
this fall, and rainfall plentiful. The Patriots looked half way
decent yesterday and it was an important win, they looked more
coherent in all departments except for one, the Gronk. As I have
predicted, the beginning of the end for the star receiver has
commenced, his body is shot and so is some of his swag. Coach Bill
was ready to trade him offseason....Bill knew! Bill knows all, Bill
knows this is the year of the Gronk Swan Song. I am glad he
played for us and he will retire a Patriot.....I have a flat tire on
the truck and need to repair that ths morning but also have to reset
the painful Chevy TPMS system. The system that tells you when one of
the tires has low tire pressure.....and it doesn't reset itself
after you add air to the tire. If you have had this happen, you know
the procedure, going into truck computer mode and letting air out of
each tire until the horn beeps, etc. A good feature but a 20 minute
procedure to reset, no easy way.....I am still playing digital radio
with the OPenSpot2 and my walkies on DMR and Fusion. Still fun......
Below is a qsl card from one of the biggest characters in
ham radio, now a SK. The ham was was Del- N4NBN....N4 "No Bad news"
always on 15 meters on the same frequency...shack was a 2 watts
radio into a 1300 foot barb wire fence wire...claimed he had a
nudist resort and alligator farm....he sent out some pretty racy
photos of his wife, Magnolia Blossom, all 600 pounds of her.....the
good old days when the 15 meters band was wide open and alive...now
all we got on the airwaves is the Mud Duck on the Cape Cod Canal
making noise.
JOTA Reports 36% Growth in Scout
Participation
Scouting’s Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) 2018
reports that total Scout participation in
the annual fall event jumped by 36% from 2017. Each year more
than 1 million Scouts and Guides get together over the airwaves
for JOTA, which takes place on the third weekend of October.
Since the first JOTA in 1958, millions of Scouts have become
acquainted via Amateur Radio, and contacts sometimes result in
relationships that extend for many years. This year, 10,703
Scouts took part in the event, compared with 7,872 last year.
Participating Amateur Radio operators topped 1,000 for the first
time since 2016. At 610, the number of registered JOTA locations
was way up, as was the number of JOTA stations registered, with
314. Participating JOTA stations reported contacts with stations
in 99 countries, also up over 2017.
JOTA Coordinator Jim Wilson, K5ND, said he was pleased with
this year’s numbers and hopes that 2019’s event will show a
continued increase, despite a lack of sunspots.
“Looking over the numbers, a big part of the increase in JOTA
Scout participation came from the World JOTA-JOTI (Jamboree on
the Internet) Team’s registration and reporting system,” Wilson
told ARRL. “We had 233 stations report results on the US system,
which is comparable to last year’s 226. In addition to that, 90
stations reported their results on the World system. After
eliminating duplicates, this added 33 to our total of 266
station reports. That, chiefly, accounts for the increase in
total Scout participation. In summary, perhaps this nice
increase is due primarily to more accurate reporting.”
Wilson said he’s also looking forward to the final tally on
US participation in JOTI. “Location registration in the US
jumped from 274 last year to 610 this year,” he said. “Several
Amateur Radio operations reported using JOTI chat and Skype to
greatly improve their ability to generate Scout-to-Scout
conversations between the US and the rest of the world. Of
course, VoIP modes like D-Star, DMR, and EchoLink also helped in
our solar minimum.”
World JOTA-JOTI numbers are not expected until early 2019, as
each country reports its results by mid-December followed by
number crunching and compiling of the report, Wilson explained.
“Thanks to everyone who set up a JOTA station and helped
Scouts experience the technology, fun, and magic of Amateur
Radio. Let’s do it again next year,” he concluded.
3Y0I Bouvet Island DXpedition
news
The following was posted December 1st:
3Y0I to invite additional operators -- Some fresh
news from Cape Town, South Africa.
The 3Y0I Team is about to deal with another
extensive training next week + gathering some additional
equipment we'll need at Bouvet Island. Also, new possibilities
emerge: we can take 2 additional operators (CW + SSB) with us.
If you're flexible operating - and weather- experienced
individual, and willing to join 1-month long adventure of your
life time, drop a msg asap at: k38dom@gmail.com. Be quick!"
Also, there has been several QSNs reported on the DXclusters
by E51DOM/MM (mostly on FT8). This is reportedly Dom, 3Z9DX,
"probably" operating from the ship that they will use to take
them to Bouvet. Dom has stated that he will use this callsign
during his sailing trips to several different locations in the
World and "probably" on his way to Bouvet.
Departure dates are still not known. It is still a mystery...
Remember, they plan to stay on the island for at least 2 weeks,
if the weather cooperates.
The 3Y0I DXpedition's band plan frequencies (160-6m) and
modes (CW/SSB/FT8) can be found at:
https://www.rebeldxgroup.com
https://bouvetoya.org/3yoi-bandplan
QSL via ClubLog's OQRS (preferred), LoTW or via 3Z9DX.
For more details and updates, we suggest to watch the
following Web pages:
https://bouvetoya.org
New England Hams
you might run across 75
meters.........
K1TP-
Jon....Editor of As The World
Turns....
2017
HRO CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON
W1GEK-
Big Mike....Nearfest Cook, big
motor home, electronics software
engineer ...
AA1SB-
Neil...Living large traveling
the country with his
girlfriend...loves CW
N1YX-
Igor....peddles quality Russian
keys, software engineer
K1BGH...Art.....Restores
cars and radio gear, nice fella...
N1XW.....Mike-easy
going, Harley riding kind of
guy!
K1JEK-Joe...Easy going, can
be found at most ham flea market
...Cobra Antenna builder..
KA1GJU-
Kriss- Tower climbing pilot who
cooks on the side at
Hosstrader's...
W1GWU-Bob....one
of the Hosstrader's original
organizers, 75 meter regular,
Tech Wizard!!!
K1PV-
Roger....75 meter regular, easy
going guy...
W1XER...Scott....easy
going guy, loves to split
cordwood and hunt...
WS1D-
Warren- "Windy" - Bullnet
KB1VX-
Barry- the picture says it all,
he loves food!
KC1BBU-
Bob....the Mud Duck from the
Cape Cod Canal, making a lot of
noise.
W1STS- Scott...philosopher,
hat
connoisseur,
KB1JXU-
Matthew...75 meter regular...our
token liberal Democrat out of VT
KA1BXB-Don....75
meter Regular......residing on
the Cape of Cod, flying planes
and playing radio
KMIG-Rick....75
Meter Regular....teaches the
future of mankind, it's scary!
K1PEK-Steve..Founder
of Davis-RF....my best friend
from high school
K9AEN-John...Easy
going ham found at all the ham
fests
K1BXI- John.........Dr.
Linux....fine amateur radio op
....wealth of experience...
K1BQT.....Rick....very
talented ham, loves his
politics, has designed gear for
MFJ...
W1KQ- Jim- Retired
Air Force
Controller...told quite a few
pilots where to go!
N1OOL-Jeff-
The 3936 master plumber and
ragchewer...
K1BRS-Bruce-
Computer Tech of 3936...multi
talented kidney stone passing
ham...
K1BGH- Arthur, Cape Cod,
construction company/ice cream
shop, hard working man....
W1VAK-
Ed, Cape Cod, lots of experience
in all areas, once was a Jacques
Cousteus body guard....
KD1ZY-
Warren....3910 regular with
WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE
signal
N1YSU-
Bob, easy going, kind of
like Mr. Rogers until politics
are brought up then watch out...
K1BNH-
Bill- Used to work for a bottled
gas company-we think he has been
around nitrous oxide to long .
Silent KeyVA2GJB-
Graham...one of the good 14313
guys back in the day.
Silent Key
K1BHV-
David...PITA
Silent Key
W1JSH-
Mort...Air Force man
Silent Key
K1MAN--Glen....PITA
Silent KeyKB1CJG-"Cobby"-
Low key gent can be found on
many of the 75 meter
nets.........
Silent KeyWB1AAZ-
Mike, Antrim, NH, auto parts
truck driver-retired
Silent KeyWB1DVD-
Gil....Gilly..Gilmore.....easy
going, computer parts selling,
New England Ham..
Silent Key
W1OKQ-
Jack....3936 Wheeling and
Dealing......keeping the boys on
there toes....
Silent Key
W1TCS-
Terry....75 meter
regular, wealth of electronic
knowledge...
Silent Key
WIPNR-
Mack....DXCC Master, worked them
all!.. 3864 regular for many
years...
Silent Key
WILIM-
Hu....SK at 92... 3864
regular for many years...
Silent Key
N1SIE-
Dave....Loves to fly
Silent Key:N1WBD-
Big Bob- Tallest ham, at 6'10",
of the 3864 group
Silent Key:
W1FSK-Steve....Navy
Pilot, HRO Salesman, has owned
every radio ever built!
Silent Key:
W4NTI-Vietnam
Dan....far from easy going cw
and ssb op on 14275/313
Silent Key:K1FUB-Bill-
Loved ham radio.... |
